Following the detainment of violinist John Shin by ICE (the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Salt Lake Symphony Music Director Robert Baldwin has released a statement via social media.

The conductor said on Facebook, “My former student, John Shin, has been detained by ICE. We need to be better than this, America! When these raids and roundups began in January, we were told it would only be the violent criminals, murderers, and such. Well, here’s a former student and upstanding human being, a husband, father, and fabulous musician. He’s been here nearly his entire life. He is married to a US citizen. He has two degrees in violin performance from the U. He played concertmaster in both the Campus Symphony, the Utah Philharmonia, and graduate string quartet, all leadership roles. He has enriched the musical community after graduating, too, playing in the Salt Lake Symphony and Sinfonia Salt Lake, among others. I have relied on him as a valued member of those ensembles as have others.”

He added “Now, I don’t know. Maybe he has some parking tickets. Maybe he has a moving violation. BUT I’ve never known John to be anything but a dedicated, respectful human being. He was rounded up, detained, and only given a short phone call.

Baldwin went on to post the transcript from Shin’s wife DaNae which stated, “I wish I could be thanking everyone for the birthday wishes and posting pics of our family spending time celebrating, but instead I received a phone call of my nightmares. On Monday, at 2:30pm I got a call from John– ‘Honey, I don’t have much time. I’ve been arrested by ICE and they are sending me to a detainment center. I love you and the kids, I will be okay, please call our attorney’ and then he was rushed off the phone. I have no more details, no more information than those short 30 seconds. I’m shaking as I type this, l’ve been in shock, I’ve shattered, I’m so scared, I’m enraged and I’m reaching out to our community for help. John is not a criminal, he is an amazing husband, father, and person, and I will do whatever it takes to bring him back home. As I sat in our attorney’s office yesterday, panicked and in tears, she took my hand and said, ‘Mi amore, now is not the time to cry, now is the time to fight back.’ and so… that is what I will do. She told me that what we need to do to win his case, is to gather as many letters attesting to John’s character, his meaning to the community, the good things he has accomplished. If you want to help, l’m begging to please donate to his legal fund, and/or to write a letter highlighting your relationship, what you know and appreciate about him as a person, his accomplishments and positive impact on his community. She said the more letters we have, the more likely we are to win, so please share this, and letters can be emailed to me at [email protected]. I’ve been asked about formatting the letter. Since it has been just over 24 hours, we do not know who the judge is yet, so please address the letters formally with “Your Honor,” additionally, while we are all outraged and horrified she also advised me to ask that letters strictly stick to attesting to his character, his accomplishments, and his value to his community, and avoid any outrage, accusations of the administration (even though this is absolutely completely unjust and outrageous) and using respectful language. I’m so grateful for this incredible community we are a part of, and I will not give up hope that we can fight this, and win, so John can be released and come home. Our attorney was able to find out his hearing is September 2, so I will be gathering as many letters and donations as possible until then.”

Bladwin closed his statements and said, “I stand by John and DaNae and will do whatever is in my power to help them. Link included if you’d like to help as well.”

Shin’s wife has since created a GoFundMe campaign to pay for legal fees.

Baldwin is Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the University of Utah. He has appeared across North America, Europe, and Asia.